This spring version is very similar in quality and aromas than the winter 2011 Concubine (which it replaces in my selection). The major impact of having now a spring harvest instead of a winter harvest is that the brew is more fragrant. The scents of red, exotic and ripe fruits coat the mouth and seem to never leave. The cold scent is all honey.

The most amazing about this tea is its natural, mellow mouthfeel. Even after 6 minutes, there's no uncomfortable bitterness or astringency. This tea tastes sweet and smooth. And, despite the strong flavors, the mouth remains clean and bright. It feels like a sunny afternoon in these tea fields. A taste of nature.

It's feminine and pure like the first kiss of a countryside gal. The pleasure is guilt free (there are no artificial flavors or sugar). It's a real taste. Nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to regret. I love this rich, ripe honey-dipped fruity taste. It's also warm and comforting in its aftertaste. And again, amazingly natural.

The mature leaves are almost completely oxidized. The buds are less oxidized and we can see signs of insect bites confirming the lack of pesticides. This creates this incredible deep taste and fine fragrances. The leaves are not as uniform and neat as usual. This is another sign that this tea field is managed in an organic, natural manner. And it feels!

Below, I have compared three versions of this tea:
Left, the 2011 winter version stored in my qinghua jar.
In the middle, the 2011 winter version stored in a vacuum sealed foil.
Right, the 2013 spring version stored in a vacuum sealed foil.

The color intensity is very similar when the tea is stored in the plastic foils. The teas are very similar. The winter version tastes sweeter, while the spring is more fragrant.
The leaves stored in the porcelain jar produce a much redder color. The tea has evolved and post-oxidized faster in the jar. This results in a deeper and broader aftertaste. I have kept the leaves in this jar for only 6 months approximately.

This comparison confirms that this Concubine Oolong is also a very good candidate for aging. The roasting hasn't turned the leaves stiff, hard, but has dried them sufficiently to improve with time.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Tomorrow's moon festival marks the beginning of a new, cooler season. After the warm summer, we can now look forward to tea enticing fall days! Serious tea brewing is resuming or gathering new strength.

To celebrate this new tea season, I have reduced prices of 15 teas from my selection by 10% to 20%!

10% or more reduction for my 2013 spring high mountain Oolongs from Qilai, Lushan, Alishan and Shan Lin Shi. Organic Wenshan Baozhong is also reduced as long as supply lasts. The 2012 Oriental Beauty, Yiguang Shan Hungshui Oolong, the Gankou Oolong from southern Taiwan and the high mountain Yunnan Red Extreme Delight have also been reduced by 10%.

There's even a 20% reduction on my winter Da Yu Ling, and on the 3 winter Alishan Oolongs (2 luanze and 1 jinxuan). These are excellent fresh Oolongs that still haven't reached their prime!

And finally, for a limited time only, I'm reducing the price of the mid 80s loose raw puerh by 20%!

You may request my new price list by sending me an email: stephane_erler@yahoo.com

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Storage: not vacuum bagged, it was kept in a plastic inside a big metallic cylindrical box. I found this tea in a local grocery store! The merchant doesn't actively promote his teas anymore. However, since I was curious about his old tea boxes, he showed me some Oolongs he has kept for over 10 years.

I like the fact that he doesn't re-roast his Oolongs like most tea merchants do. Such tea gives us a good glimpse to how Oolong can age naturally when kept at home by a tea fan (since most of us don't have a roaster or roasting skills). All too often, tea merchants over-roast their unsold inventories and end up killing the freshness in the leaves.

For this first test, I'm using 3 grams of leaves and brewed the tea for 6 minutes in my white gaiwan. Since the tea is old, it's best to use a strong pour.

1. View.

The dry Oolong leaves were tightly rolled, and have started to unfurl with age. This is consistent with old Hung Shui Oolong. The color is somewhere between the dark 1990 San Hsia Hung Shui Oolong and a greener recent one. With this tea, the roast is on the lighter side, because it's a high mountain Oolong. The leaves open up pretty well even after the first brew.
This brew has a good clarity and dark orange color.

2. Smells

The dry leaves completely lack roasting smells. Instead, we have a very ripe, fruity and malty smell. The brew smells very similar. It's like small wild strawberries and raspberries without their fresh astringency. These fragrances are unlike any you can find in young Oolongs, fresh or roasted. They remind me the 1990 San Hsia Hung Shui Oolong. These darker and heavier notes are secondary scents that only appear with the slow passing of time.

3. Taste

When pushed to its limits, this old tea displays some bitterness that slowly fades away. Overall, it's pretty mellow and has this nice balance of freshness and sweetness that we are looking for in old tea. In a second brew, the level of bitterness decreased and it felt sweeter. The 'green', fresh taste resurfaces more and more as the leaves release their aromas. The aftertaste is very long and subtle.

The leaves unfurl well and seem to become completely fresh again!

Now, we can also see a large number of nice tips, a sign of quality.

Conclusion: with this aged Hungshui Oolong, we can smell the wonderful transformation potential of young roasted Oolong. Patience and good leaves, well stored, can produce such wonderful aromas, combining the thick harmony of age without loosing their underlying freshness. These leaves provide a partial glimpse to such result. I say partial, because the taste could/should be less bitter to be really perfect. The very reasonable price of this tea reflects this small defect.

I believe that the best way to have excellent quality Hung Shui Oolong is to purchase it young and store it yourself in a good porcelain jar.

Top quality aged Dong Ding Oolong from the early 1980s can be worth as much as its weight in gold! And, each time I had the opportunity to try, such Oolong tasted like heaven for me. Very few of us will be able to afford such a price in 30 years. That's why I recommend that you plan ahead: select a good Hung Shui Oolong, preferably of a year that has meant something for you (graduation, wedding, kids...) and enjoy it never more than once a year! 300 grams could last over 40 years if you use 7 grams or less per session.